Navaho Houses, pages 469-518

Chapter 3

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They are rectangular in plan, sometimes with a board roof, and occasionally comprise several rooms. When the local conditions favor it they are constructed of stone, regular walls of masonry; but perhaps the greater number of those now in existence are in the mountain districts, and were built of logs, often hewn square before being laid in place.

Plate Lx.x.xVIII shows a stone house belonging to one of the wealthiest men in the tribe, Bitcai by name. It is situated on the western slope of the Tunicha mountains and was built some years ago, but it is a type of house which is becoming more and more frequent on the reservation. There is practically nothing aboriginal about it except a part of its interior furniture and its inhabitants, and the only one of the old requirements that has been met is the fronting of the house to the east, while the character of the site and the natural conditions demand a western front.

The log houses referred to are constructed much like the stone house shown in the ill.u.s.tration, except that they are built usually by Indian labor and ordinarily are covered with flat earthen roofs. Frequently the logs are hewn square before being placed in the walls, which present a very neat and finished appearance. Sometimes door and window frames are procured from the sawmill or from the traders, and add to such appearance, while nearly always one or more glazed sashes occupy the window openings and board doors close the entrances. In nearly all cases the requirement that the entrance should face the east is observed, but it is being more and more ignored, and in the houses constructed within the last few years the ancient custom is frequently violated. Unless the princ.i.p.al entrance were made to face the east, the performers in the dedicatory ceremonies could not take their prescribed positions and the ceremony would have to be either modified or omitted altogether.

CEREMONIES OF DEDICATION

Among the Pueblo Indians there are certain rituals and ceremonial observances connected with the construction of the houses, but in the Navaho system nothing of a ceremonial nature is introduced until the conclusion of the manual labor. Usually there are enough volunteers to finish the work in one day, and by evening everything is ready for the dedication. The wife sweeps out the house with a wisp of gra.s.s and she or her husband makes a fire on the floor directly under the smoke hole.

She then goes to her bundles of household effects, which are still outside, and pours a quant.i.ty of white cornmeal into a shallow saucer-shape basket. She hands this to the _qasci?_, or head of the family, who enters the hogan and rubs a handful of the dry meal on the five princ.i.p.al timbers which form the _tsai_ or frame, beginning with the south doorway timber. He rubs the meal only on one place, as high up as he can reach easily, and then does the same successively on the south timber, the west timber, the north timber, and the north doorway timber.

While making these gifts, as the proceeding is termed, the man preserves a strict silence, and then, as with a sweeping motion of his hand from left to right (_cabikego_, as the sun travels) he sprinkles the meal around the outer circ.u.mference of the floor, he says in low measured tones--

_Qojonli_ _cogan_ May it be delightful my house;

_Citsi"dje_ _qojonli_ From my head may it be delightful;

_Cikee_ _qojonli_ To my feet may it be delightful;

_Ciyae_ _qojonli_ Where I lie may it be delightful;

_Cikigi altso_ _qojonli_ All above me may it be delightful;

_Cina altso_ _qojonli_ All around me may it be delightful.

He then flings a little of the meal into the fire, saying--

_Qojonli hoce_ _ciko?_ May it he delightful and well, my fire.

and tosses a handful or two up through the smoke hole, saying--

_Qojonli_ _Tci?hanoai_ _cica naiicni"_ May it be delightful Sun (day carrier), my mother"s ancestor, for this gift;

_Qojonli_ _nacale_ _cogan_ May it be delightful as I walk around my house.

Then two or three handfuls of meal are sprinkled out of the doorway while he says--

_Qojonli_ _cae"cin_ _cica_ May it be delightful this road of light, my mother"s ancestor.

The woman then makes an offering to the fire by throwing a few small handfuls of meal upon it, and as she sprinkles it she says in a subdued voice--

_Qojonli_ _ciko?_ May it be delightful my fire;

_Qojonli_ _caltcini_ _altso yahoce_ May it be delightful for my children; may all be well;

_Qojonli_ _cibeacan_ _altso yahoce_ May it be delightful with my food and theirs; may all be well;

_altso cinalgeya_ _yahoce olel"_ All my possessions well may they be made (that is, may they be made to increase);

_altso cil"i?_ _yahoce olel"_ All my flocks well may they be made (to increase).

When a hogan is built for a woman who has no husband, or if the husband is absent at the time, the wife performs all these ceremonies. In the absence of white cornmeal, yellow cornmeal is sometimes used, but never the _cqaici? ocli"j_, the sacred blue pollen of certain flowers, which is reserved exclusively for the rites of the shaman.

By the time these forms have been observed night will have fallen.

During the day, while the house building was in progress, the women were busily engaged in preparing food; all now gather inside the hogan, a blanket is suspended over the door frame, all the possessions of the family are bought in, sheepskins are spread on the floor, the fire is brightened and the men all squat around it. The women bring in food in earthen cooking pots and basins, and, having set them down among the men, they huddle together by themselves to enjoy the occasion as spectators. Every one helps himself from the pots by dipping in with his fingers, the meat is broken into pieces, and the bones are gnawed upon and sociably pa.s.sed from hand to hand. When the feast is finished tobacco and corn husks are produced, cigarettes are made, everyone smokes, and convivial gossipy talk prevails. This continues for two or three hours, when the people who live near by get up their horses and ride home. Those from a long distance either find places to sleep in the hogan or wrap themselves in their blankets and sleep at the foot of a tree. This ceremony is known as the _qogan aiila_, a kind of salutation to the house.

But the _qogan bigi"n_, the house devotions, have not yet been observed.

Occasionally these take place as soon as the house is finished, but usually there is an interval of several days to permit the house builders to invite all their friends and to provide the necessary food for their entertainment. Although a.n.a.logous to the Anglo-Saxon "house warming," the _qogan bigi"n_, besides being a merrymaking for the young people, has a much more solemn significance for the elders. If it be not observed soon after the house is built bad dreams will plague the dwellers therein, toothache (dreaded for mystic reasons) will torture them, and the evil influence from the north will cause them all kinds of bodily ill; the flocks will dwindle, ill luck will come, ghosts will haunt the place, and the house will become _batsic_, tabooed.

A few days after the house is finished an arrangement is made with some shaman (_qacal"i_, devotional singer) to come and sing the ceremonial house songs. For this service he always receives a fee from those who engage him, perhaps a few sheep or their value, sometimes three or four horses or their equivalent, according to the circ.u.mstances of the house builders. The social gathering at the _qogan bigi"n_ is much the same as that of the _qogan aiila_, when the house is built, except that more people are usually invited to the former. They feast and smoke, interchange scandal, and talk of other topics of interest, for some hours. Presently the _qacal"i_ seats himself under the main west timber so as to face the east, and the singing begins.

In this ceremony no rattle is used. The songs are begun by the shaman in a drawling tone and all the men join in. The _qacal"i_ acts only as leader and director. Each one, and there are many of them in the tribe, has his own particular songs, fetiches, and accompanying ceremonies, and after he has pitched a song he listens closely to hear whether the correct words are sung. This is a matter of great importance, as the omission of a part of the song or the incorrect rendering of any word would entail evil consequences to the house and its inmates. All the house songs of the numerous _qacal"i_ are of similar import but differ in minor details.

The first song is addressed to the east, and is as follows:

_House song to the East_

_Qa"adje_ _biyadje_ _beqogan_ _aiila_ Far in the east far below there a house was made;